Marcus Rashford was on target again with a double as Manchester United demolished third-tier Barnsley 7-0 at Old Trafford in the EFL Cup third round.
Rashford had scored his first goal since mid-March in Saturday's Premier League victory at Southampton, after which Erik ten Hag predicted more would follow.
And the United manager was quickly proven right as Rashford grabbed the first and fifth goals on Tuesday, helping to fire the Red Devils into the last 16 of the EFL Cup.
Rashford, who netted in United's final victory over Newcastle United in this competition two seasons ago, appeared full of confidence after 16 minutes as he brought down Alejandro Garnacho's crossfield pass, skipped past Marc Roberts and blasted into the top corner.
The exiled England international was not alone among United's under-fire forwards in enjoying a productive game in front of goal either, with Antony getting his first of the season by winning and converting a penalty.
It was three on the stroke of half-time as Garnacho prodded in after Rashford was tackled in the area, and the excellent Argentina winger scored again shortly after the restart.
Rashford raced onto another Garnacho pass and finished coolly just before the hour mark, before Christian Eriksen added a late brace of his own.
Data Debrief: He shoots, he scores
It was hard to foresee Rashford's three-goal week prior to the Southampton match – primarily because the United number 10 was not shooting, let alone scoring.
Rashford appeared in United's first three Premier League matches of the season without even attempting a shot, but Barnsley's goal was subjected to target practice on Tuesday as his confidence returned.
Those two Rashford goals came from six attempts, including five from inside the box as he thrived in a central striking role after so often toiling on the left wing.
Harry Kane stretched to further record-breaking ground by surpassing Wayne Rooney for the most goals by an English player in Champions League history.
Bayern Munich forward Kane opened the scoring against Dinamo Zagreb with a penalty at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
That moved the England captain level with former Manchester United star Rooney on 30 Champions League strikes, the joint-most by any player from their country.
Kane later eased past Rooney's mark in the second half, powering home his 31st strike in the competition to take the outright English record.
Kane netted eight times in UEFA's top club competition last season, his most in a single edition, and has got off to a blistering start in the revamped 2024-25 format.
His second finish of the game helped Bayern to a 4-2 lead before Michael Olise's second goal extended the hosts' advantage further shortly after.
Unai Emery makes life "so easy" for his players, according to the Aston Villa manager's Europa League-winning goalkeeper.
Beto played for Sevilla as they won three consecutive Europa Leagues under Emery, featuring in the first two title runs, including starring in a penalty shoot-out triumph against Benfica in the 2014 final.
And despite going on to endure slightly more testing spells in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, Emery has continued to deliver on the European stage.
He guided Villarreal to another Europa League win, before returning Villa to European football and then the Champions League. Villa beat Young Boys 3-0 in their league phase opener on Tuesday.
Emery's success comes as no surprise to former Portugal international Beto, who explained the brilliance of his old boss while speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal.
"Unai has many things that make him different," Beto told Stats Perform. "The passion that he has for football makes him different.
"The way that he studies every detail, not only in the opponent but in his team. He knows every player. He knows how to get the best out of each player in his team.
"For us, it was amazing, he knew what was going to happen in the 45th minute of the game. This is going to happen.
"If the picture is this one, we will act this way. If the game is like in another way, we're going to act this way.
"So, he had everything planned; every scenario, every situation he had planned. And for us, the players, we had all the information, we had everything. We just had to be ourselves and put our talent at the service of the team.
"And for us, it was so easy to play being coached by Unai. He was an amazing person.
"He respects football. And I think it's one of the secrets of Unai, he respects football. He gives everything for football.
"So, not only in Sevilla, I know he had some bad moments in Arsenal, but he came back in Villarreal. He won another Europa League in Villarreal.
"He brought back Aston Villa to the top. I have too much credit for Unai because I love him, respect him and he will be forever one of my best coaches and my best friends."
Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s hockey team are still basking in their successful qualification for next year’s Pan American (PanAm) Cup in Uruguay after they topped the recently-concluded Pan American Men’s Hockey Challenge in Peru.
The Calypso stickmen hammered the hosts 6-0 in a lopsided final in which captain Jordan Vieira secured a hat-trick, while the tournament’s top scorer Teague Marcano had a brace. Nicholas Grant got the other goal.
An elated Tarell Singh said winning the title and, by extension, qualifying for the PanAm Cup was a just reward for their hard work over the past week and leading up to the competition.
“Qualifying feels great because the Pan American Cup is where we should be competing,” Singh beamed.
“We have the quality to compete amongst the top teams in the Pan American region. The reason we went unbeaten in this tournament is because we came to make a statement, and we also worked for each other and kept trying to push positivity amongst the team,” he added as he reflected.
In the showpieces contest, Vieira handed Trinidad and Tobago a 1-0 lead at the half-time interval before they later asserted their authority on the encounter.
Vieira scored twice in the third quarter, while Grant also got his name on the scoresheet to make it 4-0, before Marcano fired in the last two to cap a solid performance for the Twin Island Republic, who ended the tournament as the only unbeaten team.
They tallied 60 goals in the process, 27 of which came from Marcano’s stick, while they only conceded a mere two goals across seven games.
Trinidad and Tobago will now be hoping to build on those performances leading up to and at the PanAm Cup scheduled for July 24 to August 3 in Montevideo.
The Calypso men will be hoping to replicate or even surpass the third-place finish in 2013, which remains the country’s best showing at the PanAm Cup.
Borussia Dortmund are determined to replicate the heroics of their remarkable Champions League campaign last season, head coach Nuri Sahin said ahead of Wednesday's opener at Club Brugge.
The 36-year-old Sahin will lead Dortmund in Europe's elite club competition for the first time when the Bundesliga side visit Bruges.
Dortmund announced Sahin, their former assistant coach, in June as their new manager to replace Edin Terzic, who led the German club to the Champions League final last term.
Terzic's men subsequently lost to LaLiga giants Real Madrid 2-0 in the Wembley showpiece, though Sahin is desperate for another deep run in Europe.
"After two or three matchdays, you will see how it's going," Sahin told reporters on Tuesday. "As a finalist last year, we're self-confident.
"Dortmund are a name in Europe. We want to live up to that and go through. We want to play a good role in all competitions."
Dortmund may be concerned given only one of the last five losing Champions League finalists have then started their next campaign with a win (D2 L2), a 6-3 win for Manchester City against RB Leipzig in 2021-22.
They are in different hands under Sahin, a German-born former Turkey international, who played 274 matches for Dortmund.
He won the Bundesliga in the 2010-11 season and was a Champions League runner-up with them in the 2012-13 campaign when they were managed by Jurgen Klopp.
Sahin now feels ready to take charge on the biggest stage, having started his debut Bundesliga season as a manager with seven points in three matches.
"I'm delighted to be a coach in the Champions League. This is special. I'm really looking forward to my first game on this stage," Sahin said.
However, he expects a tough outing against Brugge, who have won four of their seven matches in the Belgian Pro League.
"Since we've known that we're playing against them, we've watched very many matches. The team has a clear philosophy of play and principles, a good team," Sahin added.
Juventus beat PSV 3-1 on their return to the Champions League on Tuesday, aided by by two quickfire goals from Kenan Yildiz and Weston McKennie in the first half.
The Bianconeri were playing their first match in Europe's elite club competition since 2022-23, when they suffered a humiliating group-stage exit before failing to qualify for the next edition.
Thiago Motta has enjoyed a decent start to life in Turin, though, and that continued on Tuesday as Juve eased past their Eredivisie opponents.
Yildiz gave Juve the lead after 21 minutes with a stunning curling shot from just inside the box, leaving goalkeeper Joel Drommel helpless as the ball crashed off the inside of the post and in.
McKennie doubled their advantage six minutes later, netting inside the right-hand post from close range and winger Nicolas Gonzalez made it 3-0 with a back-post finish after the break.
Ismael Saibari pulled a goal back for PSV in stoppage time, but it was a thoroughly deserved victory for Juve, who are next in European action at RB Leipzig on October 2.
Data Debrief: Big night for Juve's young guns
Motta has been charged with overseeing a new era at the Allianz Stadium, and the average age of Juve's starting lineup on Tuesday was the youngest in their Champions League history (25 years and 149 days).
Yildiz led the charge for this new-look Bianconeri outfit, becoming their youngest-ever Champions League scorer with his stunning strike from the corner of the box.
At the age of 19 years and 136 days, he is also the youngest Turkish player to net in the competition.
Juventus also maintained their record of never losing their first Champions League game under a new coach (seven wins, three draws) – the best record of any club to have had 10 or more managers in the competition.
Aston Villa made a fine return to Europe's elite as they began their Champions League campaign with an accomplished 3-0 victory over Swiss club Young Boys on Tuesday.
Villa, European Cup winners in 1982 and playing in UEFA's premier club competition for the first time since 1983, had to survive some early pressure but were good value for their victory once they made the breakthrough.
Youri Tielemans fired Villa in front in the 27th minute after being picked out by John McGinn's deep cross, and Unai Emery's men never looked back from there.
They doubled their advantage 11 minutes later, Mohamed Ali Camara's terrible back pass selling Young Boys goalkeeper David von Ballmoos short and allowing Jacob Ramsey to tap home.
The visitors had goals by Ollie Watkins and substitute Jhon Duran disallowed for handball either side of half-time, but Amadou Onana put the icing on the cake four minutes from time, drilling a superb effort into the bottom-left corner from 25 yards out.
The one concern for the visitors was the sight of star forward Watkins receiving treatment on his ankle following his 60th-minute withdrawal, just four days out from a Premier League derby against Midlands rivals Wolves.
Villa will face sterner Champions League tests in the coming months, with Bayern Munich visiting Villa Park on matchday two and Juventus, RB Leipzig and Monaco also lying in wait.
Data Debrief: Impressive introduction for Rogers
Tielemans, Ramsey and Onana may have scored the goals, but Villa's star of the show was Morgan Rogers, who laid on four chances for his team-mates.
Not only was that the most of any player on the pitch, ahead of Watkins and Young Boys forward Filip Ugrinic (three each), but it is also the most by any Englishman on their Champions League debut since Marc Albrighton for Leicester City in 2016 (four versus Club Brugge).
Villa became the 11th different English side to play in the Champions League since it was rebranded in 1992, but just the fourth to win their first match.
Manchester United (4-2 versus IFK Goteborg in 1994), Newcastle United (3-2 against Barcelona in 1997) and Leicester (3-0 versus Brugge in 2016) also did so.
Over 100 players turned out to display their talents at first weekend of the Shuttle Showdown Badminton Tournament 2024 which took place at the YMCA in Kingston on September 14th and 15th.
From thrilling matches in the Beginner’s Division, Division B, and Division D to the enthusiastic support from around 150 spectators daily, the tournament showcased exceptional badminton talent, sportsmanship and community spirit.
With over $150,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs, players truly gave their all on the court.
Tijae Hinds was the star of the weekend, taking the titles in Division B Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles alongside Stephen Lue-Yen and Mixed Doubles alongside Breanna Bisnott.
The other winners were as follows:
Beginner’s Division- Selcon Zhang (Men’s Singles), Rolde Ann Broderick and Ashani Edwards (Mixed Doubles) and Davina Scott and Leonardo Wildman (Mixed Doubles).
Division D- Jhevado Ross (Men’s Singles), Dadrian Lewis (Women’s Singles), Marvin Lee and Rohan Brown (Men’s Doubles).
Patrons also enjoyed servings from The Burrito Shack, Zen Bowls and Bad Dawg Sausages, among many others to combat the heat of the day.
Jamaica Badminton Academy extends their gratitude to their sponsors including Chas. E. Ramson, Devon Biscuits, Lifespan Springwater, Premier Optical, Zalco Distributors, Shop Tech Goods, VP Racket Sports, Jamaica Sotheby's Realty Jamaica, ND Communications, Haven Beauty House, Dr. Mangue Chin and Television Jamaica for their coverage.
World Cup winner Ariane Hingst believes the Ballon d'Or Feminin must reconsider who merits the global award in order to do "justice to the great football players".
Former Germany international Hingst, speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, could not fathom the reasoning behind including the likes of injury-hit Alexia Putellas as a nominee.
The 30-player list was announced at the start of September, with the winner revealed later in October, as Aitana Bonmati heads to the award ceremony in Paris as the favourite.
Spain's Nations League success saw five of their players nominated, including Bonmati, while the United States women's national team also had as many nominees after their Olympic success in the French capital.
Hingst, winner of FIFA's top international competition in 2003 and 2007, believes the Ballon d'Or needs to look further than "superstars", however.
"It's always interesting to see the nominees of these Ballon d'Ors," Hingst said to Stats Perform. "I think the problem is that you only have the big picture when you have a big tournament going on.
"We had the Olympics, but you see all kinds of sports, so you can't just follow the football, so it's hard to follow.
"What frustrates me the most is, and don't get me wrong, the likes of Alexia Putellas, [she is] a great, great player, but she's been injured for such a long time and is on the list to be the best of this season.
"This can't be right and I don't think that it does justice to the great football players we have out there if Putellas is on this list as well.
"We need to get away from the superstars and just recognise the season that has been played."
Though wanting to stray away from the "superstar" tag for Ballon d'Or selection, Hingst reserved special praise for Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr.
"The interesting part is, that I always had a problem with just this one big superstar because soccer is a team sport and it took me some time to realise that you need those superstars," Hingst added.
"Definitely, Sam Kerr is one of them. It took some time for us in Germany to recognise her as much. She became really big when she was in America, an absolute superstar.
"Now then going to England and it's just tremendous. You need those figures because they are idols. Girls are talking about, 'I want to be Sam Kerr', the boys are talking about her, so you need those big names.
"For example, now you have Alex Morgan just retiring from the women's game. She was one of those superstars as well. [Megan] Rapinoe from America also retired. So who's the next?"
Paris Saint-Germain may have a less experienced side than in previous years, but Luis Enrique believes they are primed for success.
PSG are embarking on their first Champions League without Kylian Mbappe in seven years, with the Frenchman scoring 48 goals in the competition for the club.
He also helped them to reach the final in 2020, only to lose out on the trophy to Bayern Munich.
PSG host Champions League debutants Girona on Wednesday, boasting an impressive attack with the likes of Bradley Barcola, new signing Joao Neves, who already has four assists in four league games, and Ousmane Dembele.
No player made more passes breaking the opposition's defensive line than the Frenchman (21) in the Champions League last season.
"I have always wanted my players to be motivated for every game. I can use each of the six forwards we have," Luis Enrique said on Tuesday.
"They are ready, and we're a versatile team, and it's great to have all those options because the season is going to be long.
"We need to create our own stars. We need to adapt, convince the players of the way to play. I'm very motivated, and I'm delighted to have the club's trust, and I'm trying to repay them by delivering results. We have a clear project that was set out last season."
PSG captain Marquinhos added: "We always have the target of going deep into the competition. I think my team-mates are the best in the world, even if there are no big names or stars, I am proud of my team."
Midfielders Warren Zaire-Emery and Vitinha have returned from injury, though goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has been ruled out with a thigh injury and 25-year-old Russian Matvey Safonov could therefore be handed his first start.
Luis Enrique noted he was pleased with the squad, and it was too early to jump to conclusions about their lack of experience.
"I don't put any limits on my players. Experience is important, but I see many experienced players making the same mistakes. It's difficult to calculate the percentage of experience needed," he added.
"I think we are selfish as coaches. We always want the team to win. It will take a few months, and we will see how the team evolves and develops."
Luis Enrique heaped praise on Girona coach Michel, who led his team to a surprise third-place finish in LaLiga last season.
"I must acknowledge that no one expected to see them here. It is their first time, but I watched all their games last season, they play great football," he said.
Players could go on strike over the amount of games they are required to play, Rodri warned on the eve of Manchester City's Champions League opener versus Inter.
The 2024-25 edition of the Champions League will be the first to use a new format featuring 36 teams, with each side now required to play eight group-stage games, rather than six.
Meanwhile, City will be one of 32 teams to take part in FIFA's expanded Club World Cup at the end of the season, a tournament that has drawn stern criticism from many within the game.
City navigated 61 games when winning the treble two seasons ago but could be set for a far more rigorous schedule this term, leaving Rodri to warn a players' strike could lie ahead.
"I think we're close to that [striking]," Rodri told reporters. "It's the general opinion of the players, and if it keeps this way, we'll have no other option.
"I really think it's something that worries us. We are the guys who suffer."
The optimal number of games "in which a player can perform at the highest level," the Spaniard added, is "between 40 and 50".
"After that, you drop because it's impossible to sustain the physical level," he added. "This year, we're going to go until 70, maybe 80, depends on how far you go into competitions.
"I think it's too much. We have to take care of ourselves, because we are the main characters of this sport or business.
"Not everything is money or marketing, it is also the quality of the show. When I rest, when I'm not tired, I perform better. And if people want to see better football, we need to rest."
Last season, the 28-year-old's campaign extended through to Spain's Euro 2024 final victory on July 14, as did those of City team-mates Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden, who finished as runners-up with England.
City defender Manuel Akanji recently joked he may have to retire at 30 because of the gruelling schedule.
"It's so tough," the defender said. "You don't just think about this season, but also next season.
"Let's say we win the league or cup, then go to the final of the Club World Cup; the Community Shield is three weeks after. When do we have holidays?"
On Wednesday, City host Inter in a repeat of the 2023 Champions League final, won by the English side courtesy of Rodri's strike.
City forward Erling Haaland is eyeing a piece of history as he could overtake Cristiano Ronaldo as the fastest player to reach 100 goals for a single club, having scored 99 goals in 103 appearances in all competitions, including nine in four league games this season. Ronaldo netted 100 in his first 105 matches for Real Madrid.
"I played for 11 years and scored 11 goals. This guy, in four games he's scored nine," boss Pep Guardiola said with a laugh.
"The opponents will find a solution, and we have to find a solution to beat them, to find a way."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insisted Sergio Perez "deserved more" after a "heartbreaking" crash denied him a place on the podium in Baku on Sunday.
Perez, who made a brilliant start to the season only to struggle in recent months, looked set to register his best finish since finishing third at the Chinese Grand Prix in April after comfortably holding P3 for much of the race.
However, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz snuck past him on the penultimate lap, and when the Mexican attempted to regain third place, the two tangled and hit the barrier, forcing them both out of the race.
That meant that George Russell instead claimed the final podium spot alongside winner Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.
"He deserved a lot more," Horner told Sky Sports. "He should've at the very least been on the podium today.
"It was a magnificent race out at the front for so many laps. It was great to be in, it was exciting to be a part of, and it's just disappointing that it came to a close like that when it didn't need to.
"Unfortunately, he lost quite a bit of time on his out laps behind Alex Albon and then Lando [Norris] cost him dearly, which gave Oscar [Piastri] track position. I think without that, he would've won the race today.
"It's one of those things that's very heartbreaking for him and the team that so much effort goes in to lose a podium in the dying laps of the race."
It was a tough day for Red Bull all around, as Piastri's win coupled with Lando Norris crossing the line before Max Verstappen meant that McLaren leapfrogged them in the constructors'’ championship.
Red Bull are now 20 points behind McLaren ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, and Horner admitted he was not happy with how the tide had turned.
"Very, very disappointing," he added. "[The crash] destroyed the race for Checo.
"It's cost us a lot of damage and obviously vital points in the constructors' championship."
Emma Raducanu dug deep to grind out a marathon straight-sets victory over Peyton Stearns to progress at the Korea Open on Tuesday.
The Brit, who reached the semi-finals in 2022, needed two tie-breaks to win, holding off Stearns 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 46 minutes.
The play was delayed for 45 minutes due to excessive heat before the pair traded breaks in the opening three games, with Raducanu at one point holding a 4-1 lead before Stearns fought back to force the first tie-break.
Raducanu prevailed but was put straight back under pressure in a lengthy opening game of the second set, saving break point three times to get off the mark.
There was little to separate the two throughout though, as they continued to trade breaks before the 2021 US Open champion found her edge again to take the tie-break.
She will face last year's Korea Open runner-up Yuan Yue in the next round.
Data Debrief: Going the distance
Raducanu was playing her first match since being knocked out of the US Open, and she was certainly made to work for the victory.
It featured a combined tally of 28 break points and 12 breaks of serve, with eight of those coming in a topsy-turvy first set.
Raducanu successfully saved nine of 15 break points compared to seven of 13 for Stearns.
Jorginho has said the form of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is making him and his Arsenal team-mates laugh ahead of next weekend's meeting.
Haaland netted two more goals for City in Saturday's 2-1 comeback win over Brentford at the Etihad Stadium to maintain his side's perfect start.
That took the striker to nine goals across City's first four Premier League games this season - the most any player has scored in the competition's history at this stage.
Arsenal are the next side tasked with attempting to keep Haaland quiet in next weekend's showdown between the division's top-two sides.
Despite Haaland's superb form to begin the campaign, Jorginho insists Arsenal are unfazed heading into Sunday's battle in Manchester.
"Erling scoring again... it is starting to make us laugh," he said. "We look because we watch all the games and we love the Premier League.
"We watch [City] as well, which is normal. It doesn't get to our head. We need to focus on us and that is what we are trying to do."
Last season's runners-up Arsenal are two points behind early pacesetters City after winning three and drawing one of their opening four matches.
Mikel Arteta's men managed to grind out a 1-0 win in their North London derby with Tottenham at the weekend thanks to a Gabriel header.
Arsenal were without key midfield pair Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, owing to suspension and injury respectively, but still got the job done.
"You learn more about each other," said Jorginho, who replaced Rice in midfield. "Everyone wants to improve and wants the best for the team.
"When you put the team in first place I think just good things can happen. Keep believing in what you are doing. I think we are on the right way."
Arsenal travel to Atalanta for their opening Champions League game on Thursday, but one eye is undoubtedly on the trip to City three days later.
"If you want to achieve big things you need to have the mentality of trying to win every single game," Jorginho said.
"That is what we need to do and that is what we want to do. That is what we are trying to do. You need to keep in this way.
"Keep believing in what you're doing. We are believing in what we are doing and we keep working hard to improve on what we need to improve."
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